1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging process applied to image data captured by an image capturing apparatus such as a multi-eye camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exists a technique of generating an image from a plurality of images captured at different positions by changing the focus or the depth of field. In this technique, a plurality of images are deformed in accordance with the capturing position and the distance to the object to be in focus. The deformed images are composited to generate an image having a shallow depth of field (refocus process).
There also exists a technique of changing the depth of field so as to make all objects fall in focus. In the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-022796, the refocus process is performed based on a plurality of images from different viewpoints. If there are a plurality of objects, focus on them is obtained by pan-focus. However, since these techniques attain focus on the plurality of objects by deepening the depth of field or using pan-focus, an image having a shallow depth of field cannot be obtained.
In addition, a technique has been proposed to composite an image having focus on a plane that does not face a camera. However, if a plurality of objects to be in focus are not placed on the same plane but interspersed, an image having a shallow depth of field and focus on the objects cannot be generated even by this technique.